The present invention relates to motor vehicles and, more particularly, to motor vehicles including auxiliary controllable equipment.
In motor vehicles such as so-called “vocational” trucks, such as dump trucks, cement mixers, and refuse collection vehicles, it is common for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to deliver a basic truck platform for the vocational equipment. The basic truck platform typically comprises a chassis, an engine, and a cab, but does not include the specialized vocational equipment, such as the dumper, the cement mixer, or the trash receptacle. Ordinarily, the purchaser of the basic truck platform determines the end use to which the vehicle will be put.
The vocational equipment is typically not installed by the OEM but, rather, by the end user or, more typically, by an equipment installer that specializes in installing certain equipment on different type of truck platforms. To install the equipment, the equipment installer must tap into various electrical, pneumatic, or hydraulic circuits on basic truck and connect them to the equipment to be installed. The equipment is often powered by the motor of the vehicle.
The equipment installer is often not highly familiar with the circuits in the truck. The installation by the equipment installer is frequently sloppy in appearance, poor in quality and integrity, and, largely due to the installer's unfamiliarity with the truck circuits, the installation frequently damages the truck circuits.
OEMs estimate that a large percentage of repairs to equipment requested under the truck warranty are actually the result of poor installation of equipment. While these repairs are ordinarily not covered under the vehicle warranty, many OEMs perform them nonetheless to minimize damage to customer relations. These repairs are often costly and, even after the repair, the control installation, which the OEM has little to do with, often remains sloppy in appearance, and poor in quality and integrity. It is therefore desirable to provide an arrangement that can simplify the task of installing controllable equipment in connection with a vehicle. It is also desirable to improve the quality of equipment installations in connection with vehicles.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a motor vehicle comprises a chassis, a passenger compartment disposed on the chassis, a control center for remote, controllable equipment, the control center being disposed in the passenger compartment, and a dedicated interface for connecting the control center to the controllable equipment.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for making a motor vehicle including controllable equipment is provided. According to the method, in step a) a passenger compartment is assembled on a chassis including providing, in the passenger compartment, a control center for remote, controllable equipment and providing a dedicated interface for connecting the control center to the controllable equipment, and, subsequent to step a), controllable equipment is provided, remote from the control center, and the control center is connected to the controllable equipment via the dedicated interface.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a method for making a motor vehicle to be subsequently provided with controllable equipment is provided. According to the method, a passenger compartment is assembled on a chassis. In the passenger compartment, a control center is provided for controllable equipment to be located remote from the control center. A dedicated interface is provided for connecting the control center to the controllable equipment.